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Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Freezer Cooking 2013: Finished!

The freezers are full and I am done! I did the grocery shopping on Wednesday last week and finally finished today (Tuesday). I thought it was a good idea to spread out the cooking with having work/church/etc. But I have to admit that I got really sick of being in the kitchen. I am glad this ordeal is over. Though it was totally worth it, and I know we will enjoy the results in the busy nights that are coming.

Here are the pictures!

Chili is Chris' favorite food, so I made sure to make plenty of it!

I got 7 bags each with 8 cups of chili.

I cooked the rice with chicken broth. For the beans I cooked them with beef broth, sliced jalapenos, garlic and onions. I kept some of the beans by themselves, and the rest I added to a bowl with fresh corn, mushrooms, onions and peppers as filling for enchiladas or quesadillas.

It is hard to make a picture of beans to look good. haha Though it did taste really good and will make some delicious enchiladas!

I bought two organic chickens from Costco, so I cooked the second chicken, and chopped the meat from both chickens to freeze.

I got 6 -1 cup- bags of chopped chicken total. This will be good for putting in stir-frys or making chicken salad for lunches.

Bags of enchilada filling with chicken added.

7 bags with 3 cups of rice in each.

Having a full freezer is a problem when you need to get something from the bottom :). I took the opportunity and reorganized after this.

Not wanting anything from my 2 chickens go to waste, for lunch on Sunday I cooked up the chicken hearts and chicken livers and served them with steamed veggies and fried okra. Chris was a champ and finished his before me. I struggled with the texture of the liver. But now I can say I have tried it :).

Last night I made enchilada sauce. I started with a bowl full of dried peppers.

I took of the tops and shook out the seeds.

Then I blistered the peppers in a skillet.

I poured boiling water over them and let them soak for an hour.

Then I blended up the soaked chilies with chicken broth tomato sauce and spices.

Unfortunately it turned out more spicy than I would have liked. But I couldn't keep adding tomato sauce because I ran out of jars to put it in. haha I am hoping freezing it will mellow the spiciness a bit.

I also had some leftover chicken broth and I didn't have any jars left, so I cooked it down and froze it in an ice cube tray for bullion cubes.